Panic for a Minute
by asebi
Summary: Holidays in paradise should not be spent in a hotel room, but sometimes, it can't be helped. Written for the Round 3 or Season 2 of the QLFC. Harry/Draco.


**Written for Round 3 of Season 2 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Challenge as Beater 1 for the Falmouth Falcons.**

**Prompts: **(quote) "Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't be too serious about not taking yourself too seriously." Howard Ogden, (dialogue) "Do what you want."

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters herein nor the articles and messages quoted. I also do not own the song from which I draw inspiration (and took one little piece of dialogue because it amused me so). Characters belong to JK Rowling and various other copyright holders. Article is from the Associated Press, taken from HawaiiNewsNow. Messages are from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Song belongs to one Frank Delima. I also do not own the song from which I got my title, the honor of which goes to Ellie Goulding.

**Word Count:** ~2,200

**A/N:** Time given in Hawaii Standard Time since the story is placed in HST. This is a Nonmagical!AU meaning neither Harry nor Draco can perform magic. Title taken from Little Dreams by Ellie Goulding.

I chose to write about the Tsunami generated by the 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile at the end of February 2010. This tsunami was so memorable to the people of Hawaii that someone even wrote a song about it which is kind of what inspired me.

The song that inspired much of this piece (you can probably find a lot of references to it) is title The Tsunami Song by a local Hawaii comedian by the name of Frank Delima. You can youtube it before reading this if you want :3

* * *

.x.x.

* * *

_26 February 2010, 21:40 HST – Talca, Chile_

The strongest earthquake to hit Chile in 50 years has left more than 120 dead and set off a tsunami that threatens the entire Pacific Rim. –_AP_

.x.x.

_26 February 2010, 21:40 HST – Waikiki, Honolulu,__Hawai'i_

Harry sat staring at the glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom, his eyes trained on the person in the shower. There was no point feeling guilty when he knew Draco knew he was watching—not that he could see anything, anyway, what with the glass all fogged up. All he could see was a silhouette. A very sexy one, but a silhouette all the same.

He knew Draco was taking his time just to tease him. Harry could practically see the smirk on his face. Harry knew Draco was taking pleasure in torturing him in this way. Harry was definitely not going to give in and join him. He definitely was not.

Except it _was_ pretty hot.

And Harry _did_ feel sticky all over.

And why _shouldn't_ he join Draco when he was practically inviting him?

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 00:46 HST – Hawai'i _

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 1246 AM HST. –Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 09:24 HST – Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawai'i_

Harry rushed into one of the many overpriced convenience stores—they were more prevalent than even that popular American coffeehouse chain here. Without stopping, he grabbed as many passably edible items off the shelves as he could. There weren't all that many options; the shelves were already mostly cleaned out. He couldn't really worry about Draco's "delicate" palate right now. He had to be prepared for the worst. Better prepared than sorry, right? It might also be because he was sure Draco wouldn't handle hunger very well and there wasn't really any way for him to know when they'll next be able to get something to eat.

He should have prepared earlier; there wasn't any good reason for him not to have. Really, he just hadn't realized the wailing earlier had not in fact been from Draco. Especially since Draco had never screamed quite like that before. Just thinking about that morning gave made him shiver.

Harry got into line behind a heavyset woman carrying the tiniest little girl he had ever seen.

"WHAT 'CHOO MEAN NO MORE PORK AND BEANS?! WHAT KINE SHOP YOU RUNNING?!" she shouted at the tall, lanky store clerk.

Harry shifted from foot to foot as he waited. He frowned at the instant noodles he carried in his arms, not sure how he was going to cook them later, but food was food. At least he had managed to grab a few sandwiches, which, while probably not going to last, will at least be something. There were a few other things he'd managed to grab but they weren't much better than the instant noodles.

As the woman walked out yelling into her phone, Harry dumped the stuff he grabbed onto the counter for the clerk to check out. He tapped his foot and looked around the mostly empty shop. Only a few other people were left: a very tall (maybe even taller than Ron), blond man, and an Asian couple.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Harry wondered if maybe the clerk was new.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Guess there isn't much left this late," the blond man said as he got in line behind Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said. They should probably open another register.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He hoped Draco was all right. He'd been upset when Harry left, locking himself in the shower and ignoring everything Harry had to say.

He'd told Draco he was going to get emergency food supplies but all he got for his troubles were a garbled "Do what you want!"

He had left a note for him just in case.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Your total is—"

Harry shoved some bills at the man—at least three of which were twenties, more than enough—and grabbed his bags before dashing out of the store.

There was another store across the street. Hopefully, it would have more than the one he was just in.

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 09:35 HST – Hawai'i _

A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII. –Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 09:59 HST – Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawai'i _

"Draco?" Harry placed the food stuff he'd just purchased on the writing table in the corner of their suite. Draco had still been in the shower when Harry had seen the news alert and left. The bathroom was now empty as was the little balcony. There weren't many more places a person could hide. Draco wasn't in the room.

"Draco!" Harry shouted again, although he knew there wouldn't be any answer.

Harry found the note he'd scribbled before he left on the bedside table. Underneath his unruly scrawl, he saw Draco's neat handwriting.

_Going to the beach. I'm still mad at you.  
-Draco_

The beach?

For a second, it seemed the world faded. All he could see was the note in hand. All he could hear was the thumping in his chest. And then the sirens. It broke through his trance, sharp and cutting, almost mocking him.

Harry didn't even stop to make sure the door had closed properly or that he had his card key as he ran out of their room.

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 10:23 HST –Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawai'i_

Harry stood on the beach staring out at the sea. Nothing about the place—except its lack of visitors—seemed to indicate an oncoming tsunami. Really, it wasn't fair that the day be so nice. Harry turned away from the waves and looked around the nearly deserted beach, walking along the edge as he searched the crowd for a familiar blond head.

"Draco!" Harry shouted even though none of the people he could see had hair remotely as fair as Draco's.

Harry ran further down the beach. In the distance, he could see a small crowd of people, several of whom looked like cops, pointing out at the ocean and Harry rushed towards them.

As he neared them, he could hear people shouting for someone to get out of the water.

"EH, BABOOZE! GET OUTTA THE WATER!"

Blond hair in the crowd caught his eye and relief flooded him.

_Draco_.

But it wasn't. As the man turned, Harry recognized him to be the blond behind him at the first convenience store. He nodded at Harry as if he also recognized him.

"What's…what's going on?" Harry asked the man, a little out of breath.

"There's someone in the water. The police are trying to get him to come out," he said.

Harry turned and tried to spot the man in the water. It couldn't be. Draco wouldn't.

_Draco!_

"DRACO!" Harry shouted. Without thinking about it, Harry took off towards the water.

"DRACO!" he shouted again.

_Draco!_

Before he could set foot in the water—shoes and all—someone tackled him, pinning him to the sand.

Harry struggled to dislodge whoever it was on top of him but the man didn't budge.

"Dude, calm down! Running in there head first isn't going to help anyone!" the person on top of him said.

"Yeah, Potter," a different, more familiar voice said.

Harry froze.

"Did you really think I'd be idiot enough to go swimming when everyone's talking about a tsunami?" Harry could practically _hear_ the scowl.

"And you! How long do you intend to sit on top my _boyfriend_?" Harry felt the weight lift off his back and pushed himself up. He turned first towards the man who'd tackled him—the blond from the convenience store, he realized—then towards Draco.

_Draco._

"Draco!" Harry rushed towards him, flinging his arms around him and grabbing him in a tight hug. He felt Draco hug him back for a second before pushing him away.

"I thought I told you I was still mad at you," Draco said.

Harry laughed a little sheepishly, happy to have found Draco even if he were still mad at him.

Someone else laughed, too. "We should probably get off the beach and to higher grounds," the man said. "You can stay with me, if you'd like. I'm Eric, by the way." He smiled at them.

"Er…Harry," Harry said, "and this is Draco. Er…thanks…for stopping me." Harry smiled sheepishly at the man.

"Yeah, it's no problem. Just don't go jumping into the ocean during a tsunami again and we'll be good," Eric said. "Come on. My hotel is just over there. And I've probably got better food than you do, anyway."

Harry took a step towards Eric, but Draco pulled him back.

"No thanks," Draco said. "We're fine." He pulled Harry away, half dragging him in the general direction of their hotel.

"Draco, wait!" Harry said. "We'll never make it back to the hotel in time!"

"Don't tell me you want to go with him. I will curse you if you do!" Draco didn't let go so Harry just followed him.

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 11:33 HST – Hawai'i _

A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII. –Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 11:33 HST – Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawai'i _

Harry groaned as he collapsed onto the couch next to Draco.

"Damn lifts! They were working fine earlier!" Draco muttered.

Harry didn't bother to correct him. There was no point in starting yet another argument with Draco.

"They probably shut them off so no one would get trapped if the tsunami hit," Harry said instead.

"This is your fault, Potter! If I knew there'd be a goddamn tsunami, I wouldn't have left. You should have said something in your note," Draco said.

"Sorry," Harry said. Harry pushed himself off the couch and walked over to the writing table where he had left the food he bought earlier. He grabbed it and carried it back to the couch with him, putting it on the floor in front of where Draco was sprawled. He frowned at the things he bought. He was pretty sure the frozen stuff he had grabbed wouldn't be good anymore.

"Here," he said, handing Draco a bottle of some sort of drink. Any drink with the word "sweat" in it was questionable at best, but it'd been the only thing left on the shelf—probably because one little bottle cost so darn much. And its name too, maybe.

Draco took the bottle and didn't even glance at it before twisting the little cap off and taking a gulp. He didn't stop until he'd drained the whole bottle, so Harry guessed the thing probably didn't taste too horribly and grabbed a bottle for himself. It wasn't too bad. Despite the name, it was pretty good. Just a little hard on the wallet.

Sitting down again, Harry looked through the bags for the sandwiches he'd bought earlier and passed one to Draco.

"Don't think I've forgiven you yet, Potter," Draco said as he took the sandwich. Harry knew, of course, since Draco made a point to only call him Potter when he was mad at him.

"It wasn't like I was the only one enjoying myself these last three days!" Harry said, glancing over.

"Yes, but if we were going to just spend all our time in bed, we might as well have stayed in London! I wanted to go swimming! We're leaving in two days, Harry! And now this stupid tsunami is going to destroy the beach and my chance at an actual Hawaiian holiday!"

"You could have stopped me any time, you know! And I seem to remember _you_ initiating a few of those rounds!" Harry said.

Draco snorted. "As if I'd say no to sex."

Harry laughed.

"Do you think we should turn on the telly?" he asked after a while.

"Probably," Draco said, but neither of them moved.

"These sandwiches are shit, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are."

"I can't believe you thought I'd actually go swimming when cops everywhere were shouting about a tsunami," Draco said, laughing.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle as well. "Hey, you can't blame me, all right. And Narcissa would skin me alive if I were to return without you."

"Oh, I see. Fear of my mother is what got you all panicked," Draco said. He was fighting a smile, Harry could tell.

"Among other things, yes," Harry said, grinning.

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 13:38 HST – Hawai'__i_

THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 0138 PM HST. –Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

.x.x.

_27 February 2010, 15:45 HST – Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawai'__i_

"What a bogus tsunami."

Harry turned just in time to see two short, Asian girls walk by. He couldn't help but agree with whoever made that statement.

"I'm feeling a bit silly for the way I reacted now," Harry said to Draco. "Do you have any idea how worried I'd been when I didn't see you in our room?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "As if that wee little wave could have gotten me. You, maybe. Come on. I want some _real_ food."

* * *

**A/N:** A little bit about this tsunami. After it was over, many people were both relieved and disappointed-something you can kind of see from the song. There were no deaths and no damage caused despite all the confusion. This was in no way written to make light of something as serious as a tsunami, just my own recollection of the feelings that went on during and after the event...told from Harry's perspective. I tried to stick as close to the actual event as I could. Harry and Draco are just some random tourists who got mixed up in it.


End file.
